Toy railroad accessories



Aug. 12, 1958 R. G. SMITH TOY RAILROAD ACCESSORIES 15 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Jan. 26, 1955 R Y 3% N! R WM .0 mSMm 6 @m M m P EAT g- 12, 1958 G.SMITH 2,846,815

TOY RAILROAD ACCESSORIES Filed Jan. 26, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR/?/cH4.QD6'- BY k M ATTORNEY 12, 1958 R. G. SMITH 2,846,815

TOY RAILROAD ACCESSORIES Filed Jan. 26, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 5X Z6 57M- 5,.

' ATTORNEY United States Patent The present invention relates .totoyrailroad accessories andismore particularly directed-toward devicesfor effecting the loadingof toy merchandise from a 'trackside .structureonto a toy car on the track.

The operation of full size railroads requiresthe use of refrigeratedcars forperishable freight and express. 'Many of these 'cars utilize iceas a refrigerant and it is cus- ;tomary to'provide icing stations fortransferring ice from .an ice manufacturing or storage plant to thecars. =load.such a car, the ice is dropped down througha hatch in :thecar. roof.

The present invention is directed toward a toy railroad accessorywhereby the loading of ice in such a refrigerator car may be simulated.The invention contemplates an accessory having means to store asupply oftoy vmerchandise simulating ice and an operating mechanism,

preferably remotely controllable, for shifting a cake of toy ice fromstorage position to a position where it may be dropped to therefrigerator car.

In carrying out such operations according to the present invention theice is shifted by a manikin from a position lateral of the track andabove the level of the car roof across the space between the tracksidestructure and the car and over the roof of the car. The toy car body ispreferably of the type to simulate 'an'iced refrigeratorcar and has aself-closing door in the roof which is opened by the shifting of the iceby the manik-in. On deenergiza- 'tion of the mechanism the parts arereturned to normal position for a repeated operation if desired.

The accompanying drawings show, for purposes of illustrating the presentinvention, one embodiment in which the invention may take form, it beingunderstood that the drawings are illustrative of the invention ratherthan limiting the same.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. lis a perspective'view of the combined trackside accessory and toycar illustrating the car in position to receive the toy ice and themanikin retracted;

Fig. 2 is a perspective'view of 'the movable carrier in which the ice iscarried to the car;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken lengthwise through the car onthe line 3--3 of Figs. and 9 showing aportion of the carrier inprotracted position;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view with parts in section and showing the manikinin retracted position in fnllilines and in partially protracted positionin dotted lines;

Fig. 5 is .a-view similarato Fig. 4 showing the manikin in fullyprotracted position and the .car roof door open to receive the ice;

Figs. 6 and 7 are fragmentary sectional viewson the lines 6 6 and 7-7,respectively, of Fig. 4;

Fig.8 :is a vertical sectional view on the line 8-8 of Fig. -4, showingthe manikin in retracted or rest position,

and the car "roof door closed;

Figs. 9, and 11 are fragmentary views of the mechanism shown in Fig. 8,illustrating the positions of the parts in the cycle of operation, Fig.9 being taken on ar 1C 'the' =line= 99-of Fig. 5, Figs. 10 and 11 beingtaken on the lines 10-10 and 1111 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. .12-is aperspective viewshowing the'driving connection between thereciprocating manikin carrier and its oscillating driver.

In the drawings a suitable base 10 is illustrated. It

is of a size to support in any eonvenient'fashion, the cross ties 11 andrails 12 'of toy railroad track, and a-structure -13 close to the trackand suitable to represent mechanism forha-ndling toy ice'at an elevationabove'the car body. "There is room for a car C to pass by. The structure13 biases these partsto the full line position of Figs. 1, 2, 4, 6

and 8, so that the upper end 21 of the arm 20 is remote from the track.

The roof of the ice house structure 13 is provided with brackets 2211which fixedly carry a transversely extending article support and guide22 above the level of the roof of the car C and adjacent the upper end21 or the arm 20.

The shaped article support 22 has an opening 23 at one side to receivethe ice from the sloping chute 14 and a bottom 22 along which thearticle may-be shifted from chute 14, as more clearly shown in Figs. 4,7 and 11.

The body 13 also carries a fixed-guide 33 on which is mounted a "carrier34'for a manikin 35. Thiscarrie'r has anopening 36 to receive the arm2t) so'that the carrier may reciprocate back and forth with the arm. Themanikin has arms 37 and 38 which carry a pusher which may be broughtagainst the ice cake and form one of a pair of gripping members adaptedto transport the ice cake over the gap which separates the tra-cksidestructure from the car. The arm 37 is pivoted for up and down movement,as indicated by the dotted lines in Figures 7 and 8.

The other gripping member is indicated at 30. It is at the end of atransversely movable slider 24 (Fig. 2") having a flat portion 25 underthe article support 22, a stop 26 engageable with a fixed stop 26 (seeFig. 9) and guides 27, 28 and 29 which engage its sides. It is slottedat 31 to provide a lost motion connection with the arm 20. It is open asindicated .at 32 so that there is no support directly under the ice asthe pusher brings the ice cake against it and pushes the slider along.

The car C may be any car having an open body to receive toy merchandise,'or'may have a manually operable top door. It preferably has a hatch orroof opening 40 and a door 41 with a flange or lip 42, at suchan'e'levation as to be in the path of movement of the member 36. Thedoor is carried on an arm 43 and gravity biased toward closed position.

When the parts are in the normal or inactive position of Figs, 1, 2, 4,6, 7 and 8, :the manikin and movable parts are in the positionsindicated, cakes of ice are in the chute 14 and on the article support22, and the car is brought to the proper position on the "track. Uponenergization of the solenoid the parts are shifted to the left, asindicated in the drawings. the pusher against the near (or right hand)side of the cake of ice as shown in Figs. 8, 9 and 10 and shifts the iceto the left. When the ice cake reaches the member 30 the carrier ismoved beyond the side of the ice house, across the space between the icehouse and car and over the car roof. This will bring the member 30against the car roof door and open it.

When the magnet coil is deenergized, the spring 17 restores the parts.As the manikin is directly connected The manikin moves to the arm itmoves the pusher back from the ice cake and releases the same so that itcan fall through the hole 32 into the car. The shifter 24 is moved backafter the arm 20 has traversed the long slot 31. The return of thecarrier permits the car roof door 41 to close by itself. Another cake ofice has slid down into the support 22, and as the manikin returns, theend of the pusher lifts and falls behind it to rest on the plate 39.

In the absence of an ice cake to shift, the arm 20 reaches the left endof the slot 31 and shifts the carrier over the car roof and opens thedoor.

Since it is obvious that the invention may be embodied in other formsand constructions within the scope of the claims, I wish it to beunderstood that the particular form shown is but one of these forms,and, various modifications and changes being possible, I do nototherwise limit myself in any way with respect thereto.

What is claimed is:

l. A toy article handling mechanism for shifting a toy article from ahorizontal support on which it rests across a gap, and releasing it todrop, comprising a horizontally reciprocable pusher normally behind thearticle, a reciprocable obstacle in front of the article and initiallyspaced from the article, and an electromagnet spring biased to a normalposition and drivingly connected with the pusher and obstacle andacting, when energized to shift the pusher toward the article, then pushthe article While supported by the horizontal support against theobstacle and then push the article while held between the pusher andobstacle across the gap, and, when deenergized acting to first separatethe pusher and obstacle to release the article, and to then return boththe pusher and obstacle to normal position.

2. The toy article of claim 1, wherein the driving connection for thepusher is positive in both directions and I the driving connection forthe obstacle includes a lost motion connection to permit limitedrelative movement of the pusher and obstacle in each direction.

3. The toy article of claim 1, having a manikin behind the pusher and towhich it is pivoted for vertical movement so that the pusher may on itsreturn movement ride up over another article on the support and dropbehind it.

4. The toy article of claim 1, having a downwardly sloping chute leadingto the support to supply articles to the support.

5. A trackside accessory for toy railroads for dropping toy articlesonto toy cars on track alongside which the accessory is located inspaced relation to form a gap, said accessory including a fixedstructure having a horizontal article support extending laterally of thetrackadjacent side thereof at a level above the top of the toy car to beloaded and along which an article may be shifted toward the said side, afirst reciprocable member including a manikin and pusher normally behindthe article on the article support and movable toward the article topush it toward said side, a second reciprocable member in the path ofthe pushed article and mounted free to move beyond the said side whenpushed by the article so as to pass the article across the gap andacting in conjunction with the pusher to support the article when pushedbeyond the article support, and electromagnetic means, spring biased tonormal position for actuating the reciprocable members back and forthand effecting a separation of said elements while in protracted positionso that the article is released to drop.

6. The combination of claim 5, having a downwardly inclined chuteleading to the article support, and having a stop opposite the chute toposition the article in the path of the pusher.

7. The combination of claim 5, wherein the article pusher is secured tothe manikin for vertical movement so that when returning to the normalposition the pusher may ride up over an article in the article receivingstation.

8. The combination of claim 5, wherein the reciprocable members aresecured to the structure for longitudinal reciprocation parallel withone another and at right angles to the direction of the track.

9. A toy for simulating the loading of a railway car by droppingarticles through an opening in its roof, comprising a toy railroadtrack, a toy railroad box car on the track and having an opening in itsroof through which articles may be dropped, and a trackside structuresecured to the track spaced laterally of the car body to form a gap andpast which the car is movable, the trackside structure having above thelevel of the car roof and extending laterally from its car-adjacent sidean article support along Which an article is shiftable from a laterallydisposed receiving station toward the car, two reciprocable members, oneincluding a manikin and manikin actuated article pusher normally behindthe receiving station and the other an obstacle in the path of thearticle being pushed along the article support toward the car, andreciprocable member actuating means to actuate the pusher to first pushthe article toward the car and against the obstacle and cause thearticle to be gripped between the pusher and obstacle and then becarried therebetween over the gap and the roof opening, and to thencause the pusher and obstacle to separate and release the article whileabove the roof opening, characterized in that the car roof has a normalyclosed door covering the opening and the second reciprocable member hasan element engageable with the door to open it when being shifted by thepusher and article.

10. A toy article handling mechanism for shifting a toy article from asupport on which it rests across a gap, and releasing it to drocomprising a pusher reciprocable in the same plane as said support andnormally behind said article, a reciprocable obstacle in front of thearticle and initially spaced from the article, and means to reciprocatesaid pusher whereby to shift the pusher toward the article, then pushthe article While supported by the support against the obstacle and thenpush the article while held between the pusher and the obstacle acrossthe gap, and thereafter to separate the pusher and obstacle to releasethe article, and to then return both the pusher and obstacle to normalposition.

11. A toy for simulating the loading of a railway car by dropping anarticle through an opening in its roof, comprising a toy railroad track,a toy railroad car on the track and having an opening in its roofthrough which articles may be dropped, a normally closed door coveringthe opening, and a trackside structure secured to the track spacedlaterally of the car body to form a gap, and past which the car ismovable, the trackside structure having above the level of the car roofand extending laterally from its car-adjacent side an article support, apusher in the same plane as said support normally behind the article, areciprocable obstacle between the article and said car, means toreciprocate said pusher to push the article toward the car and againstthe obstacle and cause the article to be gripped between the pusher andobstacle and then be carried therebetween over the gap and the roofopening, and then to cause said door to open and then to cause thepusher and obstacle to separate and release the article into the car.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,323,240 Rexford June 29, 1943 2,658,307 Petti-t Nov. 10, 19532,664,664 Bonanno Jan. 5, 1954 2,686,385 Smith Aug. 17, 1954 2,694,271Smith Nov. 16, 1954

